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Easily one of my top 5 favorite movies! This movie was filmed in 1940 but the dialogue & life situations could easily be related to more modern times. What a great example to portray the experience of chasing the "American Dream" only to end up in the "American Nightmare."

Based upon John Steinbeck’s book, this film version of The Grapes of Wrath is ranked as one of the best 200 films of all time. Okies travel to California when their farm goes bust and house gets bulldozed by caterpillars to make sure they don't squatter on the land. The trip is bleak and upon arrival, work is available only for pennies a day. Hollywood softened the film, as they were not allowed to make a film as bleak as the novel. Director John Ford brilliantly tells this sad story of the 1% grinding the 99% into dust.

The Grapes of Wrath is such a moving story. This may be considered Henry Fonda's most famous role. We haven't had the dust storms the story recounts recently, but it caused mass displacement of families. The Grapes of Wrath will be shown as a part of our history for years to come. It is truly a masterpiece!!

As some have pointed out it's ironic that two well known political conservatives (director John Ford and producer Daryl Zanuck) were responsible for one of the great populist/pro-labor films of the 20th century. I guess art overcomes politics. This is a thoughtful, moving and gritty adaptation that in some ways improves on the novel, mainly because it drops Steinbeck's preachy, didactic tone. Henry Fonda is perfect in the lead and there are memorable performances from the supporting cast, including John Carradine as the former preacher. Special note should be made of the cinematography of Greg Toland, who a year later would shoot "Citizen Kane." Welles clearly took some of the dramatic lighting, deep shadows and striking angles from Ford. Winner of two Oscars.

Wonderful film with the inimitable Henry Fonda. From John Steinbeck's brilliant novel. John Ford did a fantastic job directing...as did the cinematographer....some of the shots are outstanding. 5 stars...6 if there were such a thing!

A bleak, heartwrenching tale, based on the Steinbeck novel, directed by legendary director John Ford. The migrant farmers escaping the Oklahoma dustbowl, (and foreclosure), during The Great Depression were effectively treated as slave labor. Prior to filming, producer Darryl F. Zanuck sent undercover investigators out to the migrant camps to see if John Steinbeck had been exaggerating about the squalor and unfair treatment meted out there. He was horrified to discover that, if anything, Steinbeck had actually downplayed what went on in the camps. Henry Fonda, John Carradine, (man, he was spooky, even back then), and the entire cast were phenomenal. A timeless film of the resiliency of the human spirit in the face of incomprehensible hardship. FIVE STARS.

Man in convertible: "The fact of the matter, Muley, after what them dusters done to the land, the tenant system don't work no more. They don't even break even - much less show a profit. Why, one man and a tractor can handle 12 or 14 of these places. You just pay him a wage, and take all the crop." Muley Graves: "Yeah, but uh... we couldn't do on any less than what our share is now! Well, the children ain't gettin' enough to eat as it is! And they're so ragged... we'd be ashamed if everybody else's children wasn't the same way!" Man: "I can't help that - all I know is I got my orders. They told me to tell you to get off and that's what I'm tellin' ya." Muley: "You mean get off my own land?"

Man in convertible: "Now don't go to blamin' me - it ain't my fault!" Muley' son: "Whose fault is it?" Man: "You know who owns the land - the Shawnee Land and Cattle Company." Muley: "And who's the Shawnee Land and Cattle Company?" Man: "It ain't nobody! It's a company." Son: "They got a president, ain't they? They got somebody knows what a SHOTGUN'S FOR, ain't they?" Man: "Aw, son, it ain't his fault, because the bank tells him what to do!" Son: "Alright, where's the bank?" Man: "Tulsa. What's the use of pickin' on him - he ain't nothin' but the manager. And he's half crazy hisself tryin' to keep up with his orders from the East." Muley: "Then who do we shoot?" Man: "Brother, I don't know. If I did, I'd tell ya. I just don't know who's to blame."

Muley Graves: "I'm right here to tell you, mister, there ain't NOBODY gonna push me off my land! My Grandpa... took up this land 70 years ago! My Pa was born here! We was all born on it! And some of of us... was KILLED on it! (man drives away) ...And some of us... died on it... That's what make it our'n! ...Bein' born on it! ...AND WORKIN' ON IT!! ...And - and dyin'... DYIN' on it! And not no piece of paper... with the writin' on it!" (weeps)

Grandpa Joad: "Wait 'til I get to Californee, I'm gonna reach up and - pick me an orange, whenever I want it! Or some grapes, na-na-na now now there's somethin' I ain't never had enough of... I'm gonna get me a whole big bunch 'o grapes - up in a bush, and I'm gonna, SQUASH 'EM ALL OVER MY FACE, and let the... juice drain down... all to my chin..." Grandma Joad: "Praise the Lord!" Grandpa Joad: "M-m-m maybe I'll get me a - whole washtub full 'o grapes, and just... SIT IN 'EM AND SCROUNGE IN 'EM... until they're all gone... hee hee hee... I sure would like that... yessir... I sure would like that..."

Ma Joad (on prison): "...Did they hurt ya son? Did they hurt ya, and make ya mean mad? Tom Joad: "Mad, Ma?" Ma Joad: "Sometimes they do..." Tom Joad: "No, I was at first, but not no more." Ma Joad: "Sometimes they do somethin' to ya. They hurt ya, and ya get mad, and then ya get mean. Then they hurt ya again, and ya get meaner and meaner... 'Til ya ain't no boy nor man anymore, just a walkin' chunk o' mean mad... They hurt ya that way, son?"